Initiative Expands MemorialCare's Integrated Delivery System Services

LOS ANGELES and ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., July 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MemorialCare Medical Foundation, the physician group division of MemorialCare Health System in Southern California, announced it has entered into a joint venture partnership with SimonMed, a prominent imaging company, to operate five imaging centers in convenient locations throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The two organizations have formed a new company called Wave Imaging, LLC. MemorialCare Medical Foundation is a 51% stakeholder and SimonMed, with 53 outpatient imaging facilities in four states, has the remaining 49% ownership. The joint venture will benefit the community by leveraging the strengths of both organizations.

Wave Imaging has acquired the assets of five SimonMed imaging centers located in Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Irvine and Laguna Niguel. The freestanding centers will be known as MemorialCare Imaging Centers and are accessible to the entire community.

The new imaging centers expand the network of inpatient and outpatient imaging facilities located on or near the health system's six hospital campuses and in convenient neighborhood locations throughout the Southland.

They are all accredited by the American College of Radiology with certified radiologists and technologists and the most advanced technologies and services. These include state-of-the-art MRI, wide bore MRI, PET/CT, regular and cardiac CT, fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine, ultrasound and more. Digital technology provides immediate remote access capabilities for physicians to view their patients' images. In addition, MemorialCare Health System offers the most comprehensive, advanced and integrated network in the Southland for women's imaging.

This initiative will deepen physician relationships, expand outpatient offerings, create efficiencies by managing costs, further the continuum of care and strengthen MemorialCare Health System's position as a comprehensive, integrated delivery system that offers access to more than 200 care locations in the Southland, including six top hospitals.

"The strength of the partnership is rooted in a shared focus on providing superior quality and exceptional service, as well as offering affordable locations that are easily accessible to patients," says Barry Arbuckle, Ph.D., President & CEO of MemorialCare Health System. To ensure the communities it serves have access to care close to home and work, MemorialCare will continue to expand the number of freestanding imaging centers, surgery centers, physician practices and other patient care locations.

"The expansion of high quality imaging centers that play a major role in diagnosing medical conditions provides more convenient options for MemorialCare's growing patient base in Orange and Los Angeles counties," says Mark Schafer, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of MemorialCare Medical Foundation, which includes more than 2,000 physicians who are part of its MemorialCare Medical Group, its Independent Practice Association—Greater Newport Physicians and retail health and urgent care centers.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for two significant health care providers to come together and provide state-of-the-art imaging services," said John Simon, M.D., SimonMed Imaging Founder and CEO. "We are looking forward to this partnership with MemorialCare."

SimonMed Imaging is the largest specialized outpatient physician imaging practice in the country with 53 locations in four states. SimonMed centers offer significant imaging expertise and the latest advanced technology, plus the competitive dedicated customer service and competitive pricing required by health plans for accountable care and tailored networks.